At this year’s Dmexco, visitors can once again expect a varied program
This week, the digital marketing industry is meeting at Dmexco in Cologne. We provide an overview of the program items on the various stages and platforms that are particularly worthwhile on September 18 and 19.
Neu: Retail Media Summit
This year, Dmexco and BVDW are giving the trend topic “Retail Media” its own stage (Hall 8 / Media Stage). New products, a critical look at the current state of development and background information will all find their place there. Experts from the entire ecosystem will share their knowledge in lectures, case studies and discussions, including Sabine Jünger (Otto), Jessica Wegner (Douglas), Christian Raveaux (Rewe Group), Robert Jozic (Schwarz Media) and Lynne Kjolso (Microsoft Advertising) as well as co-host Patricia Grundmann, chairwoman of the Retail Media Circle (RMC) at BVDW.
Neu: Creativity Summit
With the Creativity Summit (Hall 8 / Agency Stage), the organizers want to make the next level of creativity tangible. To do this, they have secured speakers from brands and agencies who will focus on trends, ideas and the best examples of digital creativity on Day 2 of Dmexco – co-host is the German Digital Award. Peter Kabel (Cogniwerk), Dora Osinde (Ogilvy), Marjorieth Sanmartin (Philipp und Keuntje), Niko Backspin (Serviceplan Culture) and Silke Grell (Fritz-Kola) will be on stage, among others.
Neu: Immersive Experience Area
The new Immersive Experience Area (Hall 7) is likely to be one of the highlights of Dmexco. It will be possible to get to know and try out use cases from the areas of virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality. Examples include the Roblox game “Jump’n’Hear” by Grabarz & Partner and the Virtual Reality Showroom and the interactive museum Discovery Dock by Demodern for the customer Ikea, as well as other cases from customers such as Cupra, Lufthansa and Bora.
Neu: Digital Pulse
A huge topic not only, but also for the digital economy: How can companies find the right young talent for their transformative business? The “Digital Pulse” platform (Rheinsaal in the Congress-Centrum Nord), which is aimed at young professionals, is intended to be a lure for the sought-after workforce. Dmexco and BVDW offer them topics such as “AI Boost, Prompt Engineering and Future Tech” and “How Estonia built a start-up ecosystem with 10 unicorns”. The speakers include Paul Elvers (Funke Mediengruppe), Mats Kuuskemaa (E-Residency) and Marcus Merheim (Hooman).
Online Ad Summit
Traditionally, the BVDW holds the Online Ad Summit on the day before Dmexco, where representatives of the marketing ecosystem meet – this year under the motto “Digital Advertising made in Germany”. The aim of the pre-event in the Wolkenburg in Cologne is to discuss the challenges of the online advertising industry. The Cookiecalypse (pages 36-45) will certainly be discussed during the breaks, and the focus on the stage will be on the topics of “Responsible Media”, “Responsible Advertising” and “Artificial Intelligence”. On stage will include Björn Kaspring (Ströer), Nadja Schick (GroupM), Robert Blanck (Axel Springer), Jochen Wegner (Zeit Online), Lisa-Charlotte Wolter (IU) and Steffen Hubert (Seven-One Entertainment Group).
Top-Speaker:innen
More than 200 hours of programming will take place on 14 stages during Dmexco 2024. According to the organizers, more than 800 experts will speak in lectures, discussions and master classes, including celebrities such as Amira Pocher, but above all representatives of advertisers, agencies, AdTech and MarTech providers, marketers, publishers and platforms. They include Josephine Gerves, CEO Digital Germany; Martin Bardeleben, Managing Director at Pinterest; Katharina Frömsdorf, CEO at Joyn; Stefan Mölling, CEO at RMS; Diana Degraa, CEO at Initiative Media; Christine Nieland, CEO at Chefkoch; Jan Nicolas König, co-founder of Odaline; Adam Singolda, CEO at Taboola; Kai Ebert, Director Growth at Syzygy, and Burkhard Müller, CDO at Mutabor, as well as all the speakers mentioned in the other boxes.
BVDW Masterclasses und Guided Tours
At an event the size of Dmexco, master classes and guided tours are a must. In a total of 25 master classes, experts from the association’s ranks present trends and technologies, knowledge and innovation from the industry for the industry. Highlight topics include “Beyond the Screen: How immersive technologies are transforming the consumer experience”, “Is there still some truth in this? – Decentralized technologies for verifying authenticity in times of deepfakes”, “How does responsible media work?”, “The power of first-party data”, “Retail media from a data perspective”, “Trend monitor of media agencies” and “Online audio monitor”.
The guided tours start at the BVDW stand in the Boulevard. The range of topics extends from data-driven marketing and programmatic advertising to artificial intelligence and retail media to SEA&SEO, customer journey and digital commerce. Several exhibition stands are visited each time.
Master classes and guided tours are available on both days of the fair.
Digital X
Cooperation: On September 18 and 19, the makers of Dmexco and Digital X want to make Cologne the digital capital of Europe. To this end, the trade fair and the digitalization initiative are joining forces again and offering a combination ticket that makes it possible to visit both events with one admission ticket.
What both events have in common is the mindset of driving forward digitalization in Europe. That is why Koelnmesse, Deutsche Telekom and the German Association for Digital Economy (BVDW), the conceptual and technical sponsor of Dmexco, are joining forces after the successful premiere last year.
Together they want to create a networked platform on which innovations are promoted, business opportunities are offered and knowledge exchange is promoted – both on the Koelnmesse site and in Cologne city center. The aim is to further advance digitalization and the associated acceptance among all stakeholders – among end consumers as well as in business and politics.
Dmexco survey
Are agencies and companies ready for the AI revolution?
The motto of Dmexco 2024 is “Prompting the Future”. Together with Koschade PR, Seidlers and PR consultant Kerstin Bauer, HORIZONT asked creatives, strategists and marketing experts how the AI transformation is already affecting their business today. …
While the Dmexco is based in the halls of the Koelnmesse on both days of the trade fair, Telekom, the organizer of Digital X, is taking over the city center of Cologne. With more than 300 partners and around 100 so-called brand houses, innovations will be shown in the Mediapark, the Friesenviertel, the Belgian Quarter and the Stadtgarten. The program also includes master classes. The content structure is provided by the trends Connected Business, the Future of Work, Security and Sustainability & Responsibility. The four topic areas and corresponding stages will be hosted by Maja Brankovic, deputy editor-in-chief of Wirtschaftswoche, Steffi Burkhart, who positions herself as an expert for generations Y, Z and Alpha, the computer scientist Daniel Domscheit-Berg and moderator Eckart von Hirschhausen.
Exclusive: New this year is the exclusive Digital X Summit. Like the Online Ad Summit, the official pre-event of Dmexco, the Digital X Summit will also take place on September 17th. Under the motto “Ready for Impact”, 400 representatives from large companies, medium-sized businesses, start-ups, politics and society will come together in the newly inaugurated Confex Conference and Exhibition Center on the Cologne exhibition grounds. Telekom wants to offer them an “exclusive future forum” with lectures and discussion rounds along the three topic areas of artificial intelligence, digital competence and digital sovereignty.
